Your Skin: Cure for Clo Clo’s Eczema in the Sunday Wash.

February 12, 2012 | Christelyn Karazin |

Clo Clo (the eight-year-old) was practically born with a rash. I suppose in the scheme of things–her being born 11 weeks early being a risk for a host of potential after affects, and none of them good–a perpetual eczema breakout is small potatoes since we got off so easy. She’s as healthy as a horse and smart as a tack.

Did I also mention she was sassy? lawdhammersee...

We’ve tried for eight years to harness the rash, and we can–for the most part. The Hubster and I grease her like a Christmas pig after every shower, force-feed her fish oil, and now, I’m starting to wash her clothes with my fancy detergent, Vaska.

I bet you’re wondering where you’ve seen that name before. Look to the column on your right. Yep–they advertise with us. But one thing you’ll notice about BB&W is that we advertise with integrity. I endorse NOTHING that I have not tried or do not use. Therefore, you’ll never see an ad for perm, Kool-Aid or KOOL cigarettes.

Grey Goose vodka?

Probably.

The point is, I try all this stuff out before I post it here, because you trust me and I take that stuff seriously.

Vaska claims their formula is so pure you can drink it. I haven’t, but it smells nice. Their products are designed not to harm anything–not your clothes, your skin, or the environment. They do all this and STILL get your clothes clean. Seriously. They’re the official detergent for the San Francisco Giants for crying out loud.

Eczema is a manifestation of a system allergic response. There is something she is eating, drinking or touching that sets her skin off. As the largest elimination organ in the body the skin has a lot of work to do and often shows sensitivities before any other part of our body does (such as a swollen tongue, itchy inner ear, runny nose, wheezing from asthma, inflammation in the body). Eliminate the allergen, and her skin would clear right up. Allergy testing will usually point people in the right direction. She is a cutie in her rapper pose. LOLOL!!!

Rosie S

@Deborrah This should be done anyway. People with eczema tend to also have problems with asthma, allergic rhinitis, and allergies. She may have to take a test to figure out if she is allergic to foods, plants, pollens, dust mites, etc. Cutting the allergens out will reduce the symptoms (runny nose, flare ups, etc.) Besides, you do not want her to go through anaphylactic shock…which is what can happen if you are allergic to foods, etc. Very, very, dangerous.

that was the key for me, mom was overbathing me. ….poor lil acid mantle didn’t stand a chance. When I got older and skipped some of those baths(and picked my own products, Cetaphil, Neutrogena etc) my skin cleared up.

lolz. i can laugh now but i was a miserable little elf. ,,,,Much sleep lost and horrible hyperpigmentation, crusting, oozing etc from the itching scratching itching cycle. sigh. *shudders at the memory.*

Freshman year, I slipped back into too-frequent-showering again..mostly because everyone else was going to shower, i dint wanna look dirty. lolz. I had an eczema relapse and was just miserable. It re-clicked to cut back on the showers and all was well soon. To hell with appearances. haha

Ms. Kay

She looks like you!

Karla

I love that sweet picture! My youngest niece also has excema. When she was visiting me, I bathed her with a very mild, plain olive oil soap with oatmeal and then greased her up with Evening Primrose Oil. I also gave her a supplement of Krill oil and Evening Primrose along with her daily vitamin. Within days, she was excema-free. I gave my sis a care package of everything and my niece hasn’t had an outbreak since.

Brenda55

I am going the give you the same advice I give everyone who talks to me about eczema. Look at the soap you are bathing with. You may need to switch to goats milk soap.

@Brenda55 Whole Foods had this soap on sale (10 for $10). I bought 5 bags (50 bars) and gave out bars as Valentine’s gifts. I love this soap!

Rosie S

@Karla @Brenda55 Are you showering with lukewarm water too? Hot water will dry out the skin.

ForestElfQueen

@Rosie S @Karla @Brenda55 +1 about the hot water and soap issue. I had awful eczema growing up and it only went away when:

*I started taking my own baths and showers with Neutrogena..on my own sched. (Mom was a clean freak, scrubbing us up to 2x daily with things like Dial, Zest and Coast..eeek)

*Started using a tiny bit of liquid det. when I washed my clothes(Mom used too much powdered Tide ec)

*I also have to avoid too much citrus or be sure to drink tons of water with it.

Growing up we went to tons of drs., including one who thought my rashes could’ve been caused by “stress, from braiding her hair too tight?”. My parents talked about that for years. haha Hey, at least the guy noticed. lolz.

Rosie S

@ForestElfQueen @Karla @Brenda55 In NY it gets cold so I can’t use very cold water, but I use water as cold enough I can handle. Usually its a good idea to put moisturizers (creme, lotions, etc.) and sealants (oils, Vaseline, etc) immediately after the shower to seal in moisture. +1 for not showering too much. It’ll dry the skin.

I know you live in the land of super-hot sun, but if you can try to make sure not to get her too overheated & sweaty. Super Hot Temp+Sweat on skin=Nasty nasty flare up. Trust me, NY has terrible sweltering heat waves for 3 months out of the year. I remember camping out in front of the A/C.

Christelyn

@Rosie S @ForestElfQueen @Karla @Brenda55 You know what’s funny? It seems climate-related. Our family spent a week in Mexico–near the beach, very humid. Her skin was like butter all week. But we can’t seem to duplicate it here. We even have a cool air humidifier in her room. le sigh.

ForestElfQueen

@Christelyn @Rosie S @Karla @Brenda55 I too have a thing with heat (can’t be too hot either) and fabric. Smooth cotton, silk, some rayon blends are okay. Nothing too rough, textured or pill-y (like how sweats get on the inside? arrrgh) against my skin, esp in heat or when walking. I don’t know how much of it is psychosomatic/flashbacks to flareups or what ..but i can’t take the feeling of anything scratchy like some rougher linen/flax. *shudders* …wool & cashmere are also OOTQ without a protective layer between it and my skin.

Brenda55

@Christelyn @Rosie S @ForestElfQueen@Karla That is what I am getting at. Some time commercial soaps strips way too much of the natural oils and moisture off the skin. Goats milk soap does not do that. I like Canus because it is made for whole goats milk and not goats milk powered like some other brands. As Karla mentioned you can get it at Whole foods.

ForestElfQueen

@Christelyn @Rosie S @Karla @Brenda55

“Our family spent a week in Mexico–near the beach, very humid.”

maybe it was difference in water quality?

I notice a difference in my skin’s tightness and dryness(temptation to scratch and ‘wannabestartinsomthin’) when it’s time to change the water filter.

Christelyn

@Brenda55 @Rosie S @ForestElfQueen @Karla Okay you got me convinced. Off to get some goat soap.

Climate makes a difference. I have dry skin and when I move to a more humid area, my skin gets softer and more moisturized. When I go back home, my skin goes back to its normal dryness 🙂

I’m learning to use the right products though.

Brenda55

@Karla I picked up two sleeves of the stuff myself just to make sure I do not run out. Hubby, who has had life long skin issues loves it. I keeps him comfortable. My skin is in the best shape it has ever been between that soap and the body butter I make.

@Brenda55 I buy handcrafted goats milk soap at our farmers market from a local work-at-home mom. It’s great stuff!

Rosie S

I’m just curious, have you taken her to an allergist/immunologist? I had eczema since the time I was little, and until I went to the allergist, I didn’t know why. Turns out it was dust mites & pollen that was triggering the skin condition.

Using mattress covers, hot water, vacuuming more to decrease the level of dust mites works, but it is ridiculous because you cannot escape dust mites & pollen. So, the doc put me on Allergen immunotherapy (aka allergy shots) and it helps a lot.

See if you can take her to an allergist for an allergy test. I know someone else who has eczema triggered by a food allergy. Once she stopped eating it, it disappeared.

Christelyn

@Rosie S I did. They did that little test on the back…nothing came back positive.

Veron

@Christelyn @Rosie S I would recommend asking for a blood allergen assay, like a RAST test. They are much more accurate than the skin prick tests, especially in regards to food allergies. I had some pretty excellent food allergies that were ruining my life. So bad, they thought I had leukemia, but two of my symptoms was persistent mild eczema and hives, which prompted my lovely internist to test my blood for allergies (something my former allergist had not done because the blood tests are expensive, and tend not to be fully covered by health insurance. The allergist had given me the prick scratch and sniff test, and it had come out negative for everything). My blood test results came back with a full list of everything I was allergic to, including dairy, gluten, and soy and some other random foods. My insurance only covered 50% of cost, but it was worth the peace of mind and the subsequent lifestyle change.

There are two types of blood test that are commonly used. The RAST and the ImmunoCap RAST. The both tell the same thing, but the immunocap tells you how high the levels of IgE (the allergy antibody) is in your blood and from what reactant. It basically tells you how allergic you are to which allergen. The ImmunoCap is the one that the insurance companies are funky about, but the basic RAST is cheaper, and will tell you the same thing, without the details. But I’ve heard that dairy and eczema are pretty hot and heavy.

Rosie S

@Veron @Christelyn Even if you can’t do the blood test, a good idea would be start an elimination diet. First eliminate things from your diet, and gradually reintroduce them back in to see if it might be food.

I’ve heard that people have improved their eczema by becoming Vegan, avoiding soy, avoiding peanuts and other nuts, or some type of food…so it’s possible that there’s food that’s triggering it also.

Mocha Z

I have nothing to add other than she is a total cutie and I see momma has strong enough genes to touch or dust all the kiddos, lol. She is beautiful! Go warrior mom!!!…on the quest for everything to make their lives the best.

Marcie

Parabens found in loads of cosmetic and detergent products were found to cause skin allergies. The cause od eczema is due to allergies. Cut out parabens and probably eczema will improve.

dani-BBW

I too struggle with eczema BUT I’ve been able to control it for the last two years without topical medication by controlling my diet, namely severely limiting my dairy intake. Every now and then I might encounter a topical irritant (costume jewelry, fragrance, etc) which breaks me out but for the most part it’s under control. As a kid it was terrible though, large itchy patches which would turn quite dark from so much scratching and irritation.

dani-BBW

I too struggle with eczema BUT I’ve been able to control it for the last two years without topical medication by controlling my diet, namely severely limiting my dairy intake. Every now and then I might encounter a topical irritant (costume jewelry, fragrance, etc) which breaks me out but for the most part it’s under control. As a kid it was terrible though, large itchy patches which would turn quite dark from so much scratching and irritation.

reem11

Well the little girl is pretty and I am sorry she suffers with the old eczema.

Islandgirl

There is hope for Clo Clo as some children that suffer from eczema grow out of it as they get older. As a eczema sufferer I’ve noticed that the synthetic fragrances added to some cosmetics can be a major contributor to flare ups. It might be worth it to change the detergent you use on Clo Clo’s clothing as it might help to reduce her flare ups. Some eczema sufferers have found that some detergents tend to irritate their skin more than others.

Islandgirl

There is hope for Clo Clo as some children that suffer from eczema grow out of it as they get older. As a eczema sufferer I’ve noticed that the synthetic fragrances added to some cosmetics can be a major contributor to flare ups.

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